


Coming of Age

by starksign



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Bottom Peter Parker, Everyone Lives at The Tower, First Time, M/M, Minor Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Minor Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, Not Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase Two Compliant, Top Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-12 20:37:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21482512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starksign/pseuds/starksign
Summary: Tony Stark is a beta. He's been a beta for 48 years. Peter has been an omega for... fewer. He's going into heat for the first time since moving in, but it's fine. Tony's a beta, and all the alphas in the tower are spoken for. Aren't they? (They aren't.)(Explicit for future chapters.)
Relationships: Peter Parker/Tony Stark
Comments: 7
Kudos: 114





	Coming of Age

“Hey, Peter,” Steve delicately asked over breakfast one morning, "your time-of-the-year’s coming up, right?” He shuffled a stack of folders aside and accepted an obscenely full plate from Bucky as he sat beside him. "I need to cover your patrol."

“Yeah, like, two weeks maybe?” Peter's heat was close, he could feel it under his skin. He snuck another piece of bacon onto his plate. “But I won't be gone too long, you can probably get Scott to do it."

Peter had been with the team for almost a year, but his heats always came around the spring and he hadn’t taken any time off yet. He'd been wondering when someone would ask about it.

“You have a plan?” Natasha asked from across the counter. Her plate was empty, but her coffee was steaming between her hands.

“I usually go upstate. It’s a lot better than Queens.”

“What’s upstate?” Steve asked, “You don’t stay at home?”

Peter fidgeted in his seat. “No, I–"

“Modern history lesson,” Natasha teased, cutting Peter off, much to his relief. “They have these facilities now, 'cycle management centers'. Been around since the 80's, I think. You go up there for a week, they feed you, and you get to bliss out without any alphas around to bother you. I hear it’s great.”

“Facilities? Seriously?” Steve sounded scandalized.

“Yeah,” Peter said, “they’re actually really nice? Kind of boring, but it’s clean. And, uh, safe.”

Steve blanched. “Is that… is safety a problem?”

Bucky furrowed his brows and leaned in to Steve’s ear. Thank god. Peter didn’t really feel like explaining New York City assault statistics to Steve over breakfast. He returned to his meal, but Steve pushed his plate aside and picked up a folder. Steve knew about city crime, obviously he knew about it, but it didn't surprise Peter that he hadn't spent much time thinking about the specifics.

Steve had been an omega before the serum. They told him it would have made him an alpha if he’d been beta. Instead, it made him sterile. They called him a beta after, no pheromones or heats or ruts, but he must have remembered what it was like. Peter felt for him. Life was tough for an omega in the 40's, sure, and some days Peter still wished he wasn’t one, but to have it taken away from him? He couldn’t imagine it.

These days it was safe enough to stay home with a partner, but going it alone while your scent wafted down the block was no guarantee, especially in a city as crowded as New York. The heat centers made sense for Peter. It was only him and May in their apartment, and when May was at work, Peter was by himself. Not ideal. And it wasn't like he could ask May to take a week-long vacation every time he went into heat.

“Anyway, you’re all set?” Natasha asked, refocusing smoothly. “You don’t need a security detail or anything?”

Peter grinned at her. “No thanks, Nat. I think I’m good.”

He liked that she asked, though. It wasn’t often he met an alpha who genuinely cared about him, and Natasha really did care. He and Natasha became fast friends when he started hanging around the tower; something about spiders sticking together, she said. In another life, he thought, maybe they would have gotten together or something.

“What’s this I hear about you going upstate?” Tony walked into the kitchen and leaned heavily against the counter. “I’m pretty sure I heard wrong. You definitely didn’t say you’re spending the week at a heat hotel.”

Peter felt his blush spread down his chest. Tony was indelicate, sometimes crude, but he wasn’t cruel. How an omega spent their heat was a sensitive subject and he knew it. Peter suddenly felt like hiding.

“A heat hotel?” Natasha groused, clearly not a fan of the derogatory slang. She slid the orange juice across the kitchen island like a friendly warning. “Really, Tony? Leave him alone.”

“Yeah, no, I don’t think so,” Tony said. “Stay here, kid. I’ve got a whole floor I can clear out for you. It’s better than one of those godawful sex camps.”

Peter blushed even brighter and lowered his gaze, nervously picking at his toaster waffles.

“What would you know?" Natasha snapped. "Back off."

Peter could smell the frustration on her, but Tony was a beta. He was as clueless as Steve about the silent cues in the room. Peter couldn’t smell himself, but he guessed he smelled as embarrassed as he was. He felt Bucky bristling in his periphery. Unfortunately for Tony, he couldn’t sense the tension. He leaned across the island for the juice, into Peter’s space.

“I mean, if you want to hang out with strangers, that’s fine,” he said, pouring a glass, “But the offer’s open.”

“Stark,” Natasha stared him down, “This is not your fucking business.”

She was furious. Disproportionately so. Peter knew alphas acted weird around him when he was close to his heat. He’d gotten pretty good at keeping them calm when they got worked up over him, but this was a new thing for Natasha. Even Bucky seemed tense about the energy in the room, and he usually kept his alpha posturing to himself if Steve wasn’t involved. If only Tony knew when to shut up.

“What’s up your tights, Super Spy?” Tony asked, “I’m just looking out for him.”

Natasha stood, leaning in to block Tony’s view of Peter, and scowled.

“He doesn’t need you _looking out_ for him,” she growled, and Tony finally got the hint. He took a step back and raised his hands in surrender.

“Okay, alpha business. Got it.”

Natasha looked ready to kill him.

“Thanks, Mr. Stark, I’ll think about it,” Peter said quickly, desperate to diffuse this situation before Tony managed to goad Natasha into a fight right there in the kitchen. He threw an apologetic look over his shoulder for Natasha as he hurried out of his seat towards the door. Steve caught his arm on the way out. Not for the first time, Peter was thankful Steve’s knack for gentling other omegas hadn’t changed with the rest of him. He calmed by degrees as they walked down the halls, Steve’s scent a relaxing neutral among all the frustrated alpha musk.

In the kitchen, Natasha took a breath and backed down.

“You need to stop being such a dick to him,” she told Tony. Bucky hummed in agreement. “He’s got to be sensitive right now. I know you can’t pick up on it, but he smells like he’s going into heat any minute. Be nice. Asshole.”

“Okay, seriously, what is up with you?” Tony asked, “You guys have never been this obsessed with him before.”

“Just looking out for him,” said Bucky, briefly catching Natasha’s eye before deferring.

“You didn’t help,” she snapped at him, “You remember how it was with Steve. You could have said something.”

“How about we all take a deep breath and start over?” Tony suggested. He was unnerved by the tension between the three of them. They’d never had a problem before. It didn’t make sense, but it made anxiety coil somewhere low in his chest. He picked up Bucky’s mug and gestured at Natasha. “More coffee?”

She accepted, but the mood stayed sour.

* * *

“What is wrong with them?!” Peter shouted as soon as Steve closed the door behind them.

“You know how alphas get,” Steve shrugged. “It’s about that time for you. Of course they’re going to butt heads about it.”

Peter rolled his eyes. Steve may have been an omega, once, but it was a different time.

“I’ve had heats before, Steve, that was excessive. Alphas can’t just act like that anymore. Even Bucky was ready to fight!”

“He was?”

“He was practically waiting for Mr. Stark to make a wrong move! You didn’t see it?”

“I was more worried about Nat killing Tony.”

Peter was shaking all over, all nervous energy. Narrowly avoiding a brawl over breakfast would do that. It came out of nowhere, they didn’t even have a reason to fight, and it bothered him. Tony wasn’t even an alpha, why had Natasha reacted the way she did? Peter had never seen her posture over anyone before, let alone him. Tony was rude, but he wasn’t threatening, and Natasha’s patience was usually a thing of legend.

Peter took a deep, soothing breath. He let the clean air of his room and Steve’s inoffensive beta scent relax him.

“The kitchen stank, though,” he said with a small smile. Steve led him to the edge of the bed.

“I don’t miss that,” Steve laughed with a grimace. “One mad alpha is bad enough, but two? Ugh.”

“Thanks for walking me back,” Peter said, scenting his sheets. He was tired in his bones. His heat was closer than he thought.

“Somebody’s got to watch your back with all these animals in the house,” Steve said. “You want anything?”

“Actually,” Peter said, “yeah. I left my breakfast in the kitchen.”

* * *

Peter was in the lab with Bruce that weekend, tinkering with his web shooters and avoiding every alpha in the building, when Natasha’s voice boomed into the room.

“Watch your fucking back, jackass! I’ll fold you in half in your sleep!” She roared.

Peter wasn’t sure who she threatened, but he flinched in sympathy. He didn’t need enhanced hearing to catch the argument. It carried down the long hallway from the first-floor conference room, clear as anything. He wouldn’t be surprised if Sam and Clint heard it on the roof.

“She’s really going for broke this time, huh?” Bruce asked.

Peter didn’t even look up from his magnifying glass, he just laughed halfheartedly. “She’s been doing that.”

“Have they been like this all week?"

“Pretty much, yeah." Peter shrugged. “It’ll cool down soon, though. I’m pretty sure I know why they’re like that. So.”

“Because of your heat?”

Peter made an affirmative noise over his open circuitry.

“That’s not normal, Pete.” Bruce set down his soldering iron.

“I know! Oh my god!” Peter huffed. “It’s driving me insane.”

They heard a crash, then a slam, then the sound of someone cursing. Bucky power walked past the lab with Steve in pursuit, then Tony, each looking angrier than the last. Bruce stared at the open door for a long moment.

“You’re sure it’s you?” He asked.

“I mean, nothing else has changed. I’m the first omega here full-time. It makes sense, kind of." Peter scrunched up his nose at the thing in his hands. Something wasn't quite right with the trigger. "I mean, not really. But kind of."

Bruce just nodded. Natasha rushed by the door carrying two folding chairs, shouting curses down the hall in two languages, maybe three. She dragged the chairs against the walls for no clear reason but to make as much noise as possible. Bruce kicked the door shut. Peter offered him a web shooter. He picked up his soldering iron.

Alpha business, they both thought. Best to leave them to it.

* * *

Things were normal for a few days after that incident, whatever it was. No one answered Peter's questions when he asked what they were fighting about but it didn't happen again, so he called it a win. Sure, everyone was a little more careful around each other, especially around Peter, but no one chased anyone down any hallways. Whatever it was, they were all getting over it.

It was the middle of the week the next time Peter noticed something off. He and Steve were cooling off on the bench after a short spar in the gym. Natasha and Clint were dressing down to take their place when Tony strode in and clapped Natasha on the back so hard it checked her balance. She took it well, only giving him a bemused smirk and a friendly punch to the arm in return.

"God, it stinks in here," Tony said, "have any of you ever taken a shower? Jesus."

"You're the one who stinks," Natasha said. "You smell like the bottom of Clint's gym bag. You finally dry up your cologne budget?"

"I'll have you know my cologne is worth more than your career, Double O. Seriously, when did you guys decide to go _au naturale? _Did I miss a memo? Are we boycotting Old Spice?"

Steve laughed. "Shut the fuck up, Tones–” he smacked him in the back with a towel, “–it smells fine.”

Tony took a breath as if to check, then froze, eyes on Peter, smile dropping for barely an instant before he snapped himself out of it and snatched the towel away from Steve with a little more force than he needed.

"Alright, whatever," he conceded. He stripped his hoodie off and reached for the hand chalk. "Hey, FRI? Have Pepper order some air fresheners anyway, yeah? Smells like a frat house in here."

“Sure, Boss.”

He took stance in the center of the gym, clapping his hands and hopping foot to foot.

"Natasha!" he called, "Let's go a round."

Natasha grinned something wild and patted Clint's back on her way to Tony. "You're on, old man."

It was a friendly match. No one had anything to prove, so there was no reason for Tony to go so hard. He went for it, though, matching Natasha move for move with an intensity he usually saved for the battlefield. Sweat beaded on his forehead. It made him glow. Peter watched his shirt turn dark as he and Natasha circled each other. He thought he caught Tony looking his way a few times, then a few more. He didn’t know what that meant, but it sent his heart racing.

* * *

It had been too long since Peter just spent time with Ned and MJ. For once, they had nothing to do and nowhere to go, so they all sat in a heap in Peter’s bed. It was familiar and comfortable, and just what Peter needed with all the weirdness going on in the tower. The easy, clean scent of his best friends calmed his nerves like nothing else could this close to his heat.

“You’re still going upstate this time?” MJ asked. She’d been happily mated since the previous summer, so she spent all her time worrying about Peter’s heats instead of her own.

“I don’t know why you would,” Ned interjected, “You have this dope-ass house to stay in. And you’re surrounded by alphas. Man, you have it made.”

“Jesus, Ned, no,” said Peter, “Just no.”

“Dude, you could totally mate with the Falcon.”

MJ caught him in the ribs with her knee.

“You could totally mate with the Falcon,” she said, brows raised, “Or maybe Captain America. Or Cap _and_ his husband! Or, you know, you could do the whole same-designation thing. Or even not mate with anyone at all. It’s the 21st century, you’re your own omega.”

Ned shrugged sheepishly. “Let me live through Peter,” he said, “There’s no way a beta like me is ever going to find an alpha as cool as these guys, MJ. Peter hangs out with Black Widow _on the reg. _Let me have this.”

She laughed and kicked him, then Peter, then crawled to the top of the bed where her bag was. She fished her phone out of the pocket.

“I’m _asking_ because I heard the good center shut down last month. There’s this new one I hear is good, but it’s, like, modern. All glass and open concepts and stuff.” She scrunched her nose up. “I have no idea what they’re thinking. That’s the worst.”

Peter felt anxious just thinking about spending that week in a wide-open room, nowhere to curl up and feel safe. The old place, the one he and MJ used to use, they had tiny apartment-style rooms where an omega could nest in any corner and feel safe. Not many of them were like that anymore. It was all style over function, and he hated the idea of it. Sure, a lot of omegas enjoyed the space, but he and MJ had always been the type to hunker down and wait out the storm rather than roll around the floor yowling for it.

He took her phone anyway and gave the advertisement a once-over.

“Ugh, no, this looks awful,” he said, pointing to a photo, “look at that shower!”

Ned peered over the edge of the phone and laughed. “Holy shit. That’s a sex shower.”

“It’s all about sex,” MJ said with a frown. “How many times can these people masturbate without getting tired? All over the place. Makes no sense. I’m glad I settled down.”

Peter winced as he read the page. _Discreet heat-aid delivery,_ the ad listed. _Sterile environment. 24/7 security. Room service._ _Couples’ accommodation available._

(“Yeah, I bet you’re getting way more sex now,” Ned teased. “You probably don’t even have to–” MJ smacked him before he could finish.

“Shut up, you’re just jealous ‘cause you’re so sad and lonely.”)

Maybe Peter was just traditional, but the minimalism seemed cold and unfriendly to him. He sighed. He should have made his reservations already, but he’d been so busy with the team... Look where that got him.

(“I am not! I’m jealous because you’re mate’s so hot.”

“Don’t you talk about her like that!”)

“Where am I going to go, then?” Peter asked. He flopped dramatically back onto the mattress even as his friends mock-fought beside him. “It’s not like I can go back to Aunt May’s on such short notice. She can’t take off work for that long.”

“I’m telling you, Peter,” Ned said, wrestling his way out of a headlock, “Stay here!”

MJ nodded. “You said Mr. Stark offered, right?”

“Yeah, but everybody’s been weird lately. Natasha almost broke his arm for suggesting it.”

“I’m so jealous,” said Ned, “You have the hottest alphas in the world fighting over you. It’s not fair.”

“Tony’s a beta,” Peter reminded him, (“Still hot,” Ned interrupted,) “and they’re not fighting over me. Well, Natasha was, but that was, like, protecting my honor or something. I don’t know. They’ve been acting all… alpha.”

“Knot-heads,” MJ said dismissively. “It’s your fuck-me pheromones. My mate would never.”

“Yeah, we know,” Ned sighed. “She’s perfect, she’s a complete gentlewoman. She gives you massages every night. She cries when you stub your toe.”

“Some of us are unmated,” Peter laughed. “Stop rubbing it in.”

“Okay,” MJ said, face flushed and smirking, “but she is, though. Did I tell you what she did last week?”

Ned shot Peter a fond look. It wouldn’t be the first time they listened to their friend wax poetic about her mate, and she could go on forever. He threw his legs over Ned’s and settled in.

**Author's Note:**

> I never wanted my first starker fic to be ABO, but here we are, and here it is.  
Inspired by Bringing Balance by cagestark.
> 
> Please forgive any mistakes, all of this is un-beta'd and I haven't written anything in years. On a completely unrelated note, is anyone looking to beta a fic?


End file.
